cover image The Springs of Namje: A Ten-Year Journey from the Villages of Nepal to the Halls of Congress

The Springs of Namje: A Ten-Year Journey from the Villages of Nepal to the Halls of Congress

Rajeev Goyal. Beacon, $24.95 (232p) ISBN 978-0-8070-0175-2

In 2001, 52 days after a brutal mass murder decimated the Nepalese royal family, Goyal, an idealistic and deeply naïve Peace Corps volunteer, arrived in the violently divided Himalayan nation, hoping to better the lives of the people in the remote villages to which he was assigned. Grand if vague ambitions soon stumble over the realities of Nepal in the early 21st century, from the way its entrenched caste system affects all aspects of life to the escalating civil war between the out-of-touch monarchy and the rest of the country. Determined to see the Peace Corps become an even greater force for good, in 2008, Goyal ventures into darkest Washington with every bit of the idealism and energy he demonstrated in Nepal and similar, inexplicable naïveté. In addition to relating his time in Nepal, this heartfelt account addresses his struggles with Washington’s blinkered functionaries, doctrinaire reactionaries, and the frustrating Obama administration, though Goyal’s apparent ignorance about the government of his own nation is baffling. However, despite setbacks and ambivalence about the changes he helped create in Nepal, Goyal remains a persuasive optimist about the effect a small group of highly motivated people can have on the world. (Sept.)